For once, it seems that Mars UK are giving British consumers a new M&M's variety we actually want (since they're denying us lovely treats such as White Chocolate M&M's, Peanut Butter Snickers, White Chocolate Galaxy and more - boo!)
They've gone and replaced last years Crunchy Caramel M&M's with a Salted Caramel variety, which is very wise and does beg the question: why didn't they do this, like, 5 years ago when the salted caramel trend was at its peak? I guess things move slowly in the confectionery labs! (coming in three years time - Unicorn M&M's!)
They've taken the smart step of using a chewy caramel in these, much like the Caramel M&M's available in the US, but with a salty twist. And they're honestly delicious! Better than the US variety, which although were good were not exactly what they'd been hyped up to be.
The shells are classic colourful M&M's, with the chocolate being a little richer than most cheap milk chocolates but not particularly creamy. The caramel filling is somewhere between chewy and firm, not too soft and not so tough that it's like toffee. In other words it's the best of both worlds and really shines with the caramel flavour - it's just salty enough to be salted caramel but doesn't over do it. And they're rather moreish! Sweet, chocolatey, caramell-y...and there's a nice mix of textures going on too from chewy to crunchy to soft. My main gripe is that there didn't seem to be enough in the bag.
Overall, these M&M's are a very welcome addition to the UK snacks world and I do hope they stick around! Going by Instagram at least, initial responses seem to have been quite positive. Now Mars, about releasing a white chocolate M&M limited edition...
You can find these available in WH Smiths currently and they're supposed to be in Tesco stores soon too.